WCOOP Weekly Round-Up
Thursday, 19 September 2013
It’s been just over a week since this year’s PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) boldly kicked off proceedings, and so far there’s been more action than Schwarzenegger himself could shake a stick at.
At the time of writing, 29 out of 66 events are completely done and dusted, meaning that there are a plethora of new players who are now proudly in possession of a WCOOP winner's bracelet.
Pros from all over the world hunkered down with their laptops to play the huge selection of events, with some big names making deep runs. Such a player was Toby ‘810ofclubs’ Lewis, who won his first WCOOP title after smashing a two-thousand strong field in Event 6 (the $215+R NL Hold’em Turbo). The unstoppable Brit collected $189,379.23 for his troubles, and all less than a month after he made the final table of a Super Tuesday.
The Brit parade marched on, with
Liv Boeree finishing 5th in Event 5 (the $320 NL 6-Max Shoot-out) for $15,552. Her banisher, a fellow countryman going by the name of
Aduobe4, took the title as well $62,208.36.
Among other pros representing Blighty were
Jonathan ‘OMGjonyctt’ Concepcion, who won Event 9 for $216,000,
David ‘CrabMaki’ Shallow who took down Event 10 for $40,369.72, and
Stephen ‘stevie444’ Chidwick who smashed Event 29 for $16,321.58.
Concepcion has a win in the Sunday Warm-Up and a runner-up finish in the Sunday Million under his belt already, but this win constitutes his biggest ever cash. Contrastingly, Shallow is a WCOOP veteran – he boasts a win of over $600k in a 2010 event, as well as a final table finish in 2012. Last but not least is the most recent winner Stephen Chidwick, who seems to be beasting his way through 2013 – the English pro adds his new WCOOP title to a SCOOP win from just four months ago, as well as an impressive nine cashes at this year’s WSOP (including three final tables).
While a large contingent of the winners who are also established pros have so far been British, various other big names from around the world have certainly made a splash.
David ‘Gunslinger3’ Bach, American by birth but representing Panama, took down Event 21 for $51,138. Bach has proven his worth as a tournament player time and time again, and is now only one TCOOP win away from becoming the first player in history to win a PokerStars Grand Slam (obtained by gaining a title in the Sunday Million as well as each of the three COOPs).
Another American who found success was PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, who placed 3rd in Event 24. Representing Canada, Mercier took a tidy $229,965.47 after the table agreed to a four-handed deal.
The event that really sent the railbirds wild, though, was number 23, aka the eagerly-anticipated $10,300 NL Hold’em High Roller. Bursting at the seams with famous names and notorious high-stakes grinders, proceedings certainly didn’t disappoint.
For a while it looked like certified poker messiah
Phil Ivey would be in with a chance of glory, after being the first one to reach more than 50k in chips. Playing as ‘RaiseOnce’, Ivey got off to an extremely strong start. His luck quickly ran out, however, and he ended up finishing outside of the money in 89th. Other big names that ended up falling short of the cash included
Phil ‘MrSweets28’ Galfond, Dan ‘djk123’ Kelly, Chris ‘Moorman1’ Moorman, Ben ‘Sauce123’ Sulsky, Shaun Deeb, Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald, Bertrand ‘elkY’ Grospellier and
Daniel ‘Jungleman12’ Cates, among many others.
Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom even made an appearance, showcasing his characteristic ‘go hard or go home’ style when he became the second player to bust, while Sam Trickett pulled off some amazing plays – folding a set not once, but twice – only to min cash.
The final table boasted a formidable line-up, featuring players such as Martin ‘M.nosbocaJ’ Jacobson, Andrey ‘Kroko-dill’ Zaichenko, and Sam “Str8$$$Homey’ Greenwood. In the end, it was German player
MauriceSch who took home the trophy, along with a mouth-watering $533,200 payday, while Jacobson scooped second for $480,000.
With action that’s been consistently fast-paced and furious, the first week of the WCOOP has definitely lived up to expectations. However, with 37 events left to go (including the Main Event, this year featuring a massive guaranteed $8 million prizepool), anything could still happen.
Take a look below at all WCOOP results so far:
| Event Number | Event Name | Prizepool | Winner | 1st Prize |
|---|
| 1 | $109 NL Hold’em [WCOOP Kickoff] | $1,179,900 | WithoutNickk (Russia) | $144,487.07 |
| 2 | $215 NL Hold’em [6-Max] | $1,324,400 | Mariusflush (Romania)) | $115,347.31 |
| 3 | $215 NL Hold’em | $2,276,200 | Murvl (Sweden) | $273,715.29 |
| 4 | $320 PL Omaha | $482,100 | Geggo08 (Norway) | $70,788.69 |
| 5 | $320 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Shootout] | $388,800 | Aduobe4 (UK) | $62,208.36 |
| 6 | $215+R NL Hold’em [Turbo] | $1,281,000 | 810ofclubs (UK) | $189,379.23 |
| 7 | $215 NL Draw | $92,600 | -Rebus1980- (Russia) | $17,918.10 |
| 8 | $215 PL Courchevel H/L | $149,000 | CaptainSmile (Norway) | $24,333.51 |
| 9 | $1,050 NL Hold’em | $1,821,000 | OMGjonyctt (UK) | $216,000.00 |
| 10 | $215 PL Omaha [Knockout] | $302,470 ($241,007.50 regular, $61,462.50 bounty) | CrabMaki (UK) | $40,369.72 |
| 11 | $320 NL Hold’em [Ante Up] | $393,900 | Tha Giggy (Canada) | $66,963.09 |
| 12 | $215 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up] | $424,800 | NicholasDLP (Russia) | $66,448.00 |
| 13 | $215 NL Hold’em [Progressive KO] | $572,460 | Nejra222 (Netherlands) | $60,579.62 |
| 14 | $530 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Knockout] | $1,039,290 ($831,432 regular, $207,858 bounty) | remrem123 (Estonia) | $110,572.10 (9 bounties) |
| 15 | $320 Stud H/L | $158,700 | scombat (Russia) | $29,994.50 |
| 16 | $215 PL Omaha [6-Max] | $364,600.00 | Yoo4 (Russia) | $51,796.11 |
| 17 | $215 NL Single Draw 2-7 | $82,200 | OhRaisyDaisy (Russia) | $16,851.00 |
| 18 | $320 NL Hold’em [Turbo, Zoom] | $716,700 | proctus (Greece) | $121,872.77 |
| 19 | $109 NL Hold’em | $974,800 | paulwiter (Uruguay) | $143,397.49 |
| 20 | $320 NL Hold’em [Super-Knockout] | $1,213,520.00 | NL_Profit (Russia) | $95,263.48 + $3,080 for 20 KOs |
| 21 | $320 PL Omaha H/L | $284,100 | Gunslinger3 (Panama) | $51,138.00 |
| 22 | $215 NL Hold’em | $1,878,800 | Iftarii (Canada) | $251,673.45 |
| 23 | $10,300 NL Hold’em [8-Max, 2x Chance] | $2,980,000 | MauriceSch (Germany) | $533,200.00 |
| 24 | $700 NL Hold’em | $2,321,515 | vovanmillion (Russia) | $271,889.75 |
| 25 | $215 NL Hold’em [4-Max] | $557,800 | monpie120 (Netherlands) | $70,020.14 |
| 26 | $320 stud | $117,000 | veeea (Russia) | $22,230 |
| 27 | $215 PL Omaha [Turbo, 1R1A] | $467,600.00 | IN_THE_Z0NE (Sweden) | $80,707.76 |
| 28 | $320 Mixed Hold’em | $193,200.00 | Redbaron1308 (Germany) | $36,321.60 |
| 29 | $320 PL Badugi | $83,700 | stevie444 (UK) | $16,321.58 |
There's still plenty of cash to be won in the WCOOP. Sign up at PokerStars.